Study Guides
Our Hope Is Anchored in God’s Word
What has God said in His Word about the Jewish people and the land of Israel? What promises and covenants has He made with the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob? And what can we learn from the remarkable things taking place in Israel in our generation?
Every Christian can be blessed by studying these Scriptures, recognizing their significance in the time in which we live, and allowing them to become a foundation for our faith and our prayers for Israel.
In our initial studies, we examined God’s covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—whose name God changed to Israel. God made specific promises concerning their descendants and the land of Canaan, even describing the boundaries of the land He had promised to give them. These promises were not forgotten. Throughout the Old Testament, God repeatedly reaffirmed His covenant and spoke through the prophets about Israel’s future.
These study guides invite us to search deeply into God’s Word and discover what He has spoken concerning Israel and the Jewish people. As we study the Scriptures, we see a remarkable pattern: Israel was scattered among the nations, yet God repeatedly promised that He would gather His people and bring them back to the land He had promised to their fathers.
In our own generation, we have witnessed extraordinary events connected with Israel—the return of Jewish people from nations around the world, the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948, the restoration of Jerusalem as a central city of the Jewish people, and the continuing growth and development of the nation. These events should lead us back to the Scriptures, not away from it. They give us reason to examine carefully what the prophets said and to consider the faithfulness of the God who made these promises.
Christians, especially young Christians, need to know what covenants God made with Israel and what the Scriptures teach about His purposes for Israel and the nations. As we see evidence of God's faithfulness to His Word, our confidence in the authority and reliability of the Scriptures can be strengthened. When Christians recognize God’s faithfulness to Israel, the foundation of their spiritual life and faith is strengthened.
We must allow the Scriptures to define what is true rather than allowing the opinions of the world to influence us. God's Word should speak to our hearts, correct our thinking, deepen our understanding, and teach us to recognize His purposes in the world as He fulfills His Word over Israel.
Our attitude toward Israel should not be determined by politics, emotions, or social media. Our love for Israel and our concern for the Jewish people should be rooted in the unchanging Word of God.
As we study these promises, may our faith be strengthened, our understanding deepen, and our prayers for Israel become more informed and more faithful to Scripture.
Our hope is anchored not in the changing circumstances of this world, but in the unchanging faithfulness of God and His Word.
God Inspires Human Instruments to Bring About His Purposes
In our last study, we examined the book of Esther. In this study, we will explore the book of Ezra, followed by Nehemiah in our next study guide. These books describe an important period in Israel's history when God brought His people back from exile, restored the Temple in...
The Lord Positions Us to Do His Will
Israel was living in captivity in the Persian Empire. A young Jewish woman named Esther, whose Hebrew name was Hadassah, had lost her parents and was being raised by her older cousin, Mordecai, a godly man who cared deeply for her. Esther was eventually brought to the palace of...
The Lord Will Not Abandon Israel
When God Gives His Word, He Remains Faithful to His Word One of the most encouraging truths throughout Scripture is that God is faithful to His Word. His people may stumble, make mistakes, and even experience the consequences of their disobedience, but God's faithfulness does...
Israel, God’s Word, and the Promise of the Land
Israel is in a significant time of transition. In Joshua 1, the Lord tells Joshua that He will be with him and that He will give Israel the land He promised to their forefathers. The key to Joshua’s success would be to meditate on God’s Word, obey it, and apply it to his life....
God is our dwelling place.
The Lord promises to gather Israel from the ends of the earth, and to circumcise their hearts so they would love Him with all their hearts and souls. In Deuteronomy, the Lord explained to Israel that when they obey Him, they would be blessed, and when they turn away from Him,...
God chose Israel as His own possession out of all the peoples on earth.
When Israel obeys the Lord, their enemies will flee before them seven ways; God will bless the land He gives them, and all the earth will see that they are called by God. Deut. 14:2 NASB 1995: God chose and separated Israel as a people for His own possession out of all the...
God first loves us and wants a love relationship with His people.
In Deuteronomy, we see that God expresses His deep love for Israel and has asked that they love Him with all their heart, soul, and strength. Deut. 4:31, 37-39 NASB 1995: God will not forget His covenant with Israel. He loved Israel’s Fathers and chose their descendants to be...
God says what He means and means what He says through His Holy scriptures.
In the book of Numbers, God blesses Israel and commits to fight for them and be with them. Numbers 6:23-27 NASB 1995: God blesses Israel. 23 “Speak to Aaron and to his sons, saying, ‘In this way you shall bless the sons of Israel. You are to say to them: 24 The LORD bless you...
One of the most important promises God made to Israel.
“I will not reject them.” “I will remember My covenant with Jacob.” We find three very important promises in these scriptures in Leviticus: First, God will drive out the nations and give Israel the land flowing with milk and honey. He also warns them not to follow the customs...
God Calls Israel His firstborn who He has redeemed, and fixes Israel’s boundaries.
Exodus 4:21-22 “Israel is My son, My firstborn”. And the Lord said to Moses, “When you go back to Egypt, see that you perform before Pharaoh all the wonders which I have put in your power; but I will harden his heart so that he will not let the people go. Then you shall say to...
Jacob becomes Israel
This week we will look at scriptures about the life of Jacob. His mother Rebekah was barren and prayed to the Lord for a child. God answered Rebekah’s prayer with a prophecy. Gen. 25:23 NASB 1995 Prophecy about Jacob The Lord said to her, “Two nations are in your womb; And two...
God confirms His covenant with Isaac and Jacob (who He names Israel).
Gen. 26:2-5: God’s Covenant with Isaac And the Lord appeared to him and said, “Do not go down to Egypt; stay in the land of which I shall tell you. Live for a time in this land and I will be with you and bless you, for to you and to your descendants I will give all these lands,...
God confirms His “everlasting” Covenant with Abraham and describes the boundaries of the land.
This week’s scriptures: Gen. 13:14-18 The Lord said to Abram, after Lot had separated from him, “Now raise your eyes and look from the place where you are, northward and southward, and eastward and westward; for all the land which you see I will give to you and to your...
God’s Covenant with Abraham
This week’s scripture: Gen. 12: 1-7 1 Now the LORD said to Abram, “Go forth from your country, And from your relatives And from your father’s house, To the land which I will show you. 2 And I will make you a great nation, And I will bless you, And make your name great; And so...